Showcase: Audrey2

Gerald was made by Project Dalek member Edward, who describes himself as, "a 14 year old with no money, no adult help, no experience, no space, no tools and no nothing".

He still managed to build a great looking Dalek and has some advice for aspiring young Dalek builders who might think that taking on a full size project is a little too much... "Excuses for not building a dalek are now redundant".

The bulk of the Dalek is made of cardboard with additional wood, plastic, metal, scrim etc. Edward says, "P.S. Yes I know that the black movie dalek has a claw instead of a plunger but I haven't been able to build one yet".

How it was done...

Edward broke with convention when constructing the skirt and shoulder sections. Because of lack of resources, he had to use whatever was at hand. Cardboard is rarely used for building Daleks at full scale but the results show what can be achieved with a little time, patience and effort. Since this build was completed, a number of other members have started cardboard build of their own.

This is a photo of the fender base section under construction. It is one of the few sections made from wood. This gives the rest of the Dalek a firm, sturdy base on which to rest. The fender also takes the brunt of any knocks or bumps that the Dalek might suffer when being operated, therefore, tough construction is desirable.

Here we see a test fitting of the painted sections, coming together for the very first time. Note that the skirt looks unusually bare without its hemispheres attached. As with any Dalek build, it is always a relief when the separately build sections fit together correctly, as planned. This test fitting still requires the neck and dome.

The built up Dalek, with all major sections assembled. The hemispheres are still to fit, as are the telescopic arm and exterminator. This photograph was taken on the same day that Gerald was finished, so progress was fairly constant throughout the day, from when this photo was taken.

The last lap. Here we see the gold painted hemispheres being fitted to Gerald's skirt section. These were made form polystyrene and simply glued into position, using a hot glue gun. Assembly of the whole daleks and final detailing followed shortly afterwards. The end results can be seen on Gerald's first outing, below...

For his first outing, Gerald went for a 45 minute trundle to the Northcote Plaza for a newspaper. On the way he met some very nice officers who (when we asked politely) escorted him out saying how it was a bad habit trying to rule the world. They even tried to get him into the paddy wagon. Such is the life of a Dalek stranded on Earth.